The End of an Era

Well, Jake and I have been talking, and we realized that we would like 3 things to happen with Davis before the baby comes . . . bye-bye binky, potty training, and sleeping in a big boy bed. With about 6 months left in the pregnancy, we thought we should start now, waiting a couple of months between each major change. So, it's bye-bye binky. I have been anticipating the agony that Davis will suffer without his beloved companion -- he's slept with a binky since he was born, and I had no clue what his reaction would be. My friend Michelle told me what she had done with her 18 month old, and I hoped that it would work with Davis. So the other night, I chopped off the nippies from his two favorite binkies. We went into his bedroom to get jammies on, and he said, "Binky go?" He was looking in his bed, because that's where we keep it. But it wasn't there :) So I said, "Let's go look in your cupboard." I pulled out one of the binkies. And it looked really weird. I said, "Oh no! What happened to this binky? I think it got broken!" He looked so confused, but still wanted to try it out, so he put it in his mouth and realized that there wasn't anything to grasp onto. He said, "New binky." So I pulled out the other one. "Wow, Davis, this one's broken too!" He took that one and tried it. He had such a confused, weirded out look on his face; I stifled a laugh and said, "What should we do with it? Do you want to just hold it?" He said, "Frow away." So we went to the garbage can and he threw his best little buddies in the trash. It ripped our hearts out! Jake was standing nearby at this point, and said later that he really felt so sad for the poor kid. Davis asked for a new binky, but we said, "Davis, we don't have another binky for you." We went into his room, got ready for bed, and he asked for it one more time as we laid him down. "Davis, we don't have another binky for you. You'll just have to sleep with your sheepy." We left and closed the door, and he fell RIGHT TO SLEEP and SLEPT THE WHOLE NIGHT! We were amazed, and thought it was a fluke, but the same thing happened last night, too! And for his nap today, he said, "Binky broken?" I just had to tell him that his binky was still broken in the garbage, and he went right to sleep. No tears, no whines, just total acceptance! I am SOOOO glad that I didn't have to deal with sleepless nights and a suffering, totally traumatized boy! But even Jake and I were sad to part with the binky. It was a game with the three of us . . . stealing it from each other and laughing so hard. It was the best way to get Davis tired, and he loved it. He LOVED his binky. But so long, dear friend. We seem to be doing just fine without you! :)